Taiwan preparing pavilion for book fair in Frankfurt

Staff writer, with CNA

The Taiwan Pavilion at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair in October will showcase an array of books, comics and e-readers, the Taipei Book Fair Foundation said yesterday.

The 200m2 pavilion, which will be jointly sponsored by the foundation and the Ministry of Culture, will exhibit award-winning publications, interactive e-reading devices and recommended works by Taiwanese writers, illustrators and comic artists, the foundation said.

Books by Chinese writers that are banned in China, such as those by exiled Nobel laureate Gao Xingjian (高行健), democracy activist Wang Dan (王丹) and literature academic Qian Liqun (錢理群), will also be displayed to highlight Taiwan’s liberal publishing environment, the foundation said.

The foundation said it has begun subsidizing Taiwanese publishers to translate their literature and non-fiction works, as well as children’s books and comic books, into English, French, German and other languages.

Excerpts of the translated books will be exhibited at this year’s pavilion, under the theme “Made in Taiwan,” the foundation said.

The foundation will also fund a trip to the fair in Germany by eight representatives from Taiwan’s publishing sector to promote copyright trading.

The Frankfurt Book Fair is the largest such fair in the world. Last year, more than 7,300 exhibitors from 97 countries participated in the fair, and more than 281,000 people visited it. A total of 3,400 events were held at the fair.

Brazil will be the theme country of this year’s fair and 70 authors from that nation are expected to attend the fair, which will run from Oct. 9 to Oct. 13.

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